Bulldogs snarl at fatigue

BOSTON – Junior guard Jeremy Pargo was asked why Gonzaga wasn’t feeling fatigued, given that the team had just endured a five-game, nine-day stretch of basketball in Anchorage and on the East Coast, broken up only by a 60-hour respite in Spokane.

“Once you play basketball, all that goes away,” said Pargo, after No. 19 Gonzaga looked fully energized while crafting an 85-82 victory over Connecticut in the Hartford Hall of Fame Showcase in front of an announced crowd of 18,007 at TD Banknorth Garden. “You can’t come into a game thinking you’re tired or you will come out with a loss.”

A few minutes later, an unconvinced reporter posed the question in a different form. At that point, Pargo did appear to tire a bit – of the line of questioning.

“We play basketball,” he said. “Those guys in the NBA play 82 games and back-to-back nights. They’re not tired – no way we should be tired.”

And so they weren’t. The Bulldogs, improving to 7-1 after a 2-0 East Coast sweep that included a 70-65 overtime win against Saint Joseph’s on Thursday, chased down loose balls and rebounded on nearly even terms against a taller, bigger opponent. They took care of the ball (nine turnovers) against the athletic Huskies and snatched a victory in a game that swayed back and forth throughout the second half.

All of which gave coach Mark Few an idea.

“I had thought about taking Friday off (between games), but maybe that’s not a good thing for these guys,” Few joked. “They seem like they’re fairly resistant. They were terrific.”

Pargo, who entered the game 1 of 16 on 3-pointers, found his shooting touch and equaled his career high with 23 points. He made four 3-pointers, a couple with defenders daring him to shoot. Three of Pargo’s 3s came in the first half as GU weathered an early burst of Huskies 3-pointers.

“He kept us in that game for a while,” guard Matt Bouldin said of Pargo. “That’s how people have been guarding him, they’ve been sagging off, but he played great.”

Bouldin hit consecutive 3-pointers after Connecticut (5-2) had assumed a 67-63 lead with 9:43 remaining.

“Once we gained that momentum, we weren’t stopping,” said Bouldin, who finished with 19 points, 17 in the second half.

Wing Micah Downs, who didn’t start because of a technical foul he picked up in the second half of the Saint Joseph’s game, produced the third double-double of his career with 14 points and 11 rebounds, five on the offensive glass.

“It’s who we are right now,” Few said of Gonzaga’s guard line. “I thought going into the year they were as good as any three guards, as a group, in the country and they showed it tonight. Matt did, Jeremy did and Micah, somebody said he had a double-double, which is incredible for his stature at 144 pounds or whatever he weighs.”

Robert Sacre came off the bench with Abdullahi Kuso in foul trouble and provided nine points on 4-of-4 shooting. Larry Gurganious added five points as Gonzaga chipped away at the Huskies’ lead. Add in Downs’ contribution and GU’s bench scored 28 points to the Huskies’ 9.

Connecticut 7-foot-3 center Hasheem Thabeet was in position to challenge one of Gurganious’ field goals, but chose to stay on the ground. That drew the wrath of coach Jim Calhoun, who called timeout to bark at Thabeet. On the ensuing play, Thabeet was called for a rebounding foul, his second foul in the first half and Calhoun has a policy to sit a player in that situation. A few minutes later, guard Jerome Dyson, who teamed with A.J. Price to knock down six 3-pointers in the first 11:30, went to the bench with his second foul. Price sat out the last 4:28 after he was whistled for his second foul.

Minus three primary scoring threats, Connecticut cooled off from the perimeter. In the final minute of the half, Downs dropped in a 3 and David Pendergraft took a feed from Pargo and drilled a 3 just before the buzzer to give Gonzaga its first lead, 45-44.

There were seven lead changes in the second half before Pendergraft hit 1 of 2 free throws – GU was just 14 of 23 at the line in the second half – to put the Bulldogs ahead to stay, 77-76. Pargo made a step-back jumper and a pair of free throws to hike Gonzaga’s lead to 81-76 with 34.3 seconds left.

Freshman Austin Daye, who made his first start, had a tough outing, but he hit 3 of 4 free throws in the closing seconds. Daye’s miss – which came after he’d made 29 straight – left GU’s lead at three. Price raced down court, but his potential tying 3 was off line.

Price and Dyson made just 5 of 18 shots in the second half.

“It’s really good for the team’s morale to go on the road in these hostile environments,” Downs said. “This is a neutral court, but it was pretty much a home crowd for Connecticut and we just came out and got the job done.”

Gonzaga 85, Connecticut 82

Percentages: FG .433, FT .618. 3-Point Goals: 12-27, .444 (Pargo 4-7, Bouldin 3-5, Pendergraft 3-9. Downs 2-5, Daye 0-1). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 2 (Pendergraft, Pargo). Turnovers: 9 (Bouldin 3, Daye 2, Pendergraft 2, Kuso, Downs). Steals: 1 (Pendergraft). Technical Fouls: none.

Percentages: FG .379, FT .719. 3-Point Goals: 9-28, .321 (Dyson 5-10, Price 3-6, Austrie 1-4, Robinson 0-3, Wiggins 0-5). Team Rebounds: 7. Blocked Shots: 4 (Thabeet 3, Edwards). Turnovers: 11 (Dyson 3, Adrien 2, Price 2, Robinson 2, Wiggins, Edwards). Steals: 4 (Price 2, Robinson, Edwards). Technical Fouls: Team.

Halftime–Gonzaga 45, Connecticut 44. A–18,007.